Carlisle railway station

This article is about the English railway station. For the Australian station, see Carlisle railway station, Perth.

Carlisle Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Other names	Carlisle Citadel
Location	City of Carlisle
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Virgin Trains
Platforms	8
Other information
Station code	CAR
History
Original company	Caledonian Railway/Lancaster and Carlisle Railway joint
Pre-grouping	Caledonian Railway/London and North Western Railway joint
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 September 1847	Opened as Carlisle Citadel
1875	Extended
(after 1948)	Renamed Carlisle

Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station which serves the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying 102 miles (164 km) south of Glasgow Central, and 299 miles (481 km) north of London Euston. It is also the northern terminus of the celebrated Settle and Carlisle Line – notionally (and historically) a continuation of the Midland Main Line from Leeds, Sheffield and ultimately London St Pancras. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The station was built in 1847, in a neo-Tudor style to the designs of William Tite. It was then one of a number of stations in the city - the others were at Crown Street (Maryport & Carlisle Railway) and London Road (Newcastle and Carlisle Railway) - but had become the main one by 1851; it was expanded and extended in 1875-1876, with the arrival of the Midland Railway (who became the seventh different company to serve it).

The Beeching Axe fell with very significant rail closures including the former North British Railway lines to Silloth (closed on 7 September 1964) and Edinburgh via Galashiels (the Waverley Line, closed on 6 January 1969). The axe cut off the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway and Portpatrick Railway in 1965 resulting in an adverse mileage increase via the Glasgow South Western Line to reach Stranraer Harbour and thus Northern Ireland.

The layout has also undergone few changes of any significance other than the singling of the ex-NER Tyne Valley route down to London Road Junction as part of the 1972-3 re-signalling scheme associated with WCML electrification.

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Carlisle (shown here as CITADEL STATION)

Rail network in the Carlisle area
Caledonian main line West Coast Main Line Northbound Waverley Route to Edinburgh Glasgow, Dumfries & Carlisle Rly Glasgow South Western Line to Gretna Green   Gretna Junction Scotland England Gretna Longtown Longtown MOD Depot Floriston Lyneside Harker Rockcliffe Kingmoor Marshalling Yard Brunthill Stainton Carlisle and Port Carlisle Railway and Dock Company Etterby Junction Port Carlisle Junction Carlisle Kingmoor TMD Willowholme Junction Port Carlisle Branch Junction Caldew Junction Carlisle Citadel Carlisle South Junction Rome Street Junction London Road Junction Currock Junction Upperby Junction Maryport and Carlisle Railway Cumbrian Coast line Upperby TMD to Barrow-in-Furness    Upperby Bridge Junction Brisco Carlisle London Road Wreay Petteril Bridge Junction Lancaster and Carlisle Railway West Coast Main Line Southbound Settle–Carlisle line to Settle Newcastle & Carlisle Railway to Newcastle

Accidents and incidents

• On 6 June 1961, a light engine and a freight train collided under the Caldewgate road bridge.

Layout & Services

Station frontage

Long-distance services are operated by Virgin Trains, with the main routes being London Euston–Glasgow Central and Scotland–Birmingham New Street. Northern Rail operate local stopping services to Newcastle Central via the Tyne Valley Line, to Barrow-in-Furness via the Cumbrian Coast Line, and to Leeds via the scenic Settle-Carlisle Line. First ScotRail also operate services to Glasgow Central via Dumfries and Kilmarnock. There are 8 platforms at the station in total - 3 through & 5 bays, organised as follows (from west to east):

• Platform 1: Relief West Coast Main Line platform (bi-directional)
• Platform 2: Cumbrian Coast Line bay
• Platform 3: West Coast Main Line north-bound platform (bi-directional)
• Platform 4: West Coast Main Line south-bound platform (bi-directional)
• Platform 5: Tyne Valley Line bay
• Platform 6: Carlisle to Leeds Line bay
• Platform 7: Scottish services to various destinations between Carlisle and Glasgow via the Glasgow South Western Line.*
• Platform 8: Early morning services to Scotland,

There are stabling roads between Platforms 3 and 4 in the train shed, and a loop around Platform 1. There are several electrified sidings to the west of Platform 1. There are substantial buildings on both the western island and the main up platform on the east side, with the main station buffet on the former and the travel centre/ticket office & shop on the latter. Both main platforms have waiting rooms & toilets and are linked by a fully accessible footbridge.

Freight trains formerly used a goods line to the west to bypass the station, but this was closed in 1984 after a runaway rake of container wagons derailed at high speed on the River Caldew bridge at Dentonholme, damaging it beyond economic repair. Nearly all freight services (apart from those running directly from the Workington line toward either Petteril Bridge Junction or the WCML or vice-versa) now have to use one of the main platform lines when passing through the station, which can cause congestion at peak times.

2008

Service frequencies on each route varied – Mondays to Saturdays there are trains every one or two hours to London and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operate seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there is a basic hourly service to both Newcastle and Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (six trains per day M-F, seven SO) and to Barrow-in-Furness (seven).

On Sundays the service is hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds and Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There are two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

The Up 'Caledonian' leaving Carlisle in 1960

2009

Service frequencies on the West Coast Main Line have been improved somewhat following the introduction of the new VHF timetable by Virgin Trains. Mondays to Saturdays there are now trains every hour to London for much of the day (although one service from Euston no longer stops here, running non-stop between Preston and Glasgow) and at least every hour to Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. First TransPennine Express operate seven trains per day to Manchester Airport and there is a basic hourly service to both Newcastle and Whitehaven but a less frequent one to Glasgow via Kilmarnock (eight trains per day), to Leeds (seven per day Mon-Sat since the May 2011 timetable alterations) and to Barrow-in-Furness (eight).

On Sundays the service is hourly on the WCML (every two hours to all main destinations apart from Manchester) and to Newcastle but infrequent on the other routes (three trains to Leeds and Whitehaven, two to Kilmarnock and another two to Dumfries only). There are two summer-only DalesRail afternoon trains to Preston via Clitheroe but no service to Barrow.

2013-14

The following trains call at Carlisle:

Virgin Trains

Provide two trains per hour to London Euston for most of the day with one service going via Birmingham. One train per hour runs to Glasgow Central and an additional service runs every two hours to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central (alternating).

First TransPennine Express

Provide a two-hourly service to both Manchester Airport and Edinburgh Waverley with services going to Glasgow Central every fourth hour. From May 2014, a two hourly service will operate to both Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central (alternating) and an hourly service will operate to Manchester Airport.

First ScotRail

Provide fifteen daily departures (twenty on Saturdays and five on Sundays). A two-hourly service runs to Glasgow via Dumfries for most of the day (with one or two longer gaps during the day) with a few other service terminating at Dumfries. More trains run on Saturdays; Sunday sees five departures to Dumfries with two continuing to Glasgow via Kilmarnock.

Northern Rail

Northern Rail provide the following service:

• One train per hour to Whitehaven (ten of which extend to Barrow-in-Furness with three continuing to Lancaster and one continues to Preston; 4 trains per day to/from Whitehaven only on Sundays).
• One train per hour to Newcastle via Hexham (including Sundays).
• Seven trains per day to Leeds via Settle.

Since May 2013, there are now four trains to Leeds on Sundays (including one through to Nottingham) but only a single Dalesrail service to Blackpool North via Preston. From 15 September 2013 the Dalesrail direct service ceased for the winter, but the lunchtime service to Leeds now has a connection at Hellifield for stations along the Ribble Valley line to Blackburn, Preston and Blackpool North.

Another major change from the start of the 2013-14 timetable is the extension of most WCML Birmingham services through to London Euston, providing new regular through links to Birmingham International & Coventry.

The 'Royal Scot' entering Carlisle in 1960

References

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (1993). Jowett's Atlas of Railway Centres: of Great Britain showing their development from the earliest times up to and including the 1990s - Volume 1 (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0420-4. OCLC 30919645.

• Historic England. "Details from listed building database ({{{num}}})". National Heritage List for England.

External links

• Train times and station information for Carlisle railway station from National Rail
• Buses from the station
• Buses to the station
• The Undercroft @ Carlisle Railway Station
• Winchester, Clarence, ed. (8 November 1935), "Carlisle Station", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 1303–1309

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Haltwhistle	style="background:#Template:First ScotRail colour; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |	First ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line	style="background:#Template:First ScotRail colour; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |	Gretna Green
Watford Junction	style="background:#Template:First ScotRail colour; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |	First ScotRail Lowland Caledonian Sleeper	style="background:#Template:First ScotRail colour; color:inherit; border-left: 0px none; border-right: 0px none; border-top:1px #aaa solid; border-bottom:0px none;" |	Carstairs
Wetheral		Northern Rail Tyne Valley Line		Terminus
Armathwaite		Northern Rail Settle-Carlisle Line		Terminus
Terminus		Northern Rail Cumbrian Coast Line		Dalston
Penrith or Oxenholme or Lancaster		Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line		Lockerbie or Glasgow Central or Haymarket
Penrith or Oxenholme or Lancaster		TransPennine Express TransPennine North West		Lockerbie or Haymarket
	Historical railways
Terminus		Caledonian Railway CR Main Line		Rockcliffe
Terminus		North British Railway Border Union Railway		Harker
Terminus		North British Railway Carlisle and Port Carlisle Railway and Dock Company		Kirkandrews
Terminus		Maryport and Carlisle Railway		Cummersdale Line open, station closed
Brisco		London and North Western Railway Lancaster and Carlisle Railway		Terminus
Scotby		Midland Railway Settle and Carlisle Line		Terminus
Scotby		North Eastern Railway Newcastle and Carlisle Railway		Terminus